Iedere maand interviewen we een docent voor je, over het onderwerp van de maand. Deze zomermaand is Simona Schimanovich aan de beurt over geduld.
Simona komt oorspronkelijk uit Oostenrijk, heeft 8 jaar in London gewoond en gewerkt en is recent verhuisd naar Amsterdam.
Simona about Patience
‘For me, patience is about allowing things to evolve in their own time. Trusting that the right time will come – but this doesn’t mean to be passive and just wait. As yogis we have the responsibility to take charge of our own lives.
When we have tried moving in the right direction and something is slowing us down, then it’s important to practice patience. When things don’t really work out as we’ve planned it’s good to realize that there is probably a reason for the detour. I trust that I will get there at the right time or learn something during my journey.
An attitude of surrender helps me to be more patient in challenging situations. Surrender means the understanding that everything happens for a reason. I reframe the situation – what is happening is not bad but it can help me to learn and grow. Surrendering also means trusting that things happen for our best. Sometimes we don’t get what we want but what we need.
My yoga practice helps me to develop patience and to calm down my mind. Our mind makes us impatient through its tendency to analyze everything: to label it as good or bad. This is the function of the mind. If we can calm down the chit chat of the mind we can become more patient.
I am a goal driven person and used to be very linear in my thinking – so it has been quite a journey for me. I still set intentions, but I don’t believe in this linear, pushy way anymore: that I have to do certain things or that things must happen in a certain way. I might put my intention out there and something completely different can happen. For instance, if I am looking for a beautiful house. I have an idea what this house should look like, but maybe something else comes along that’s much better than I had in mind. Patience is being open to what the universe will offer to us.
I recommend yin yoga, especially when you have a busy lifestyle. It’s powerful because it is a slow practice, it helps to discover what is happening in the mind. When we slow down, the mind sometimes starts to speed up. During the yin practice you can watch your thoughts and then let them go. It’s a good preparation for going into meditation. Meditation is all about slowing down and finding stillness.
Normally we simply react to what is happening around us. The aim of yoga and other practices is to develop skills to create a little gap between the outside impulses and our response. The more we can expand this gap, the more we can make a conscious choice. A short breath before we react can change everything.
Patience is mostly a theme in my yin classes, but sometimes also in my dynamic classes. Especially when we practice advanced postures, like handstand or split. It takes patience, to keep on practicing, to build up the strength. These advanced asanas are like a beautiful flower. A flower needs time to grow and blossom. You cannot rush a flower to open, or you would break it. A flower will open up in its own time, just like advanced yoga postures.
Try to see the beauty of this process. We often want to rush and be somewhere else, instead of being where we are now. But we are never there, we never arrive. When we have reached our goal, there is always something new to achieve. It is a continuous journey, so we might as well enjoy it.
I mostly teach Vinyasa flow, inspired by Prana flow. I work a lot with the elements and the cycles of nature. I have studied with many inspiring teachers and bring my own ideas and creativity to the class. In my yin classes I work a lot with the moon. The active yang practice is connected to the sun. It’s very healthy to balance these two practices.
I wish to share a simple quote by Pattabhi Jois: ‘Practice and all is coming.’ The real work is just to show up. Whatever happens during the practice is worthwhile. Trust the process and the rest will come.’
http://www.simonayoga.org
Simona geeft op vrijdagochtend om 11 uur een heerlijke pittige vinyasa les. Die verschuift per 1 september naar 12.30 maar blijft op het rooster! Ook geeft ze vanaf 1 september op zondag om 13.00 een vinyasa les, en organiseert ze op 29 oktober een fantastische Lunar Flow les.
